Two Montrealers Accused Of Exporting Rail Equipment To Iran To Appear In Court Today

CBC

Romic Marc Rail

Two Montreal men will appear in Quebec Superior Court today to face charges of exporting without a permit and misrepresentation.

Michael Allen, 67, and Hugo Dreckmann, 75, are accused of illegally exporting American-made railway equipment to Iran, which is a violation of Canada's Export and Import Permit Act and Customs Act.

Allen and Dreckmann are directors of Romic Marc Rail Inc., a company based in St-Lazare that sells locomotives and train parts.

Police said the two were allegedly selling rail equipment manufactured in the United States directly to Iran, but passing it off as being manufactured in Canada — a violation of the Export and Import Permits Act because it's a way of skirting strict economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. against Iran.

"What that company's been doing is either lying about the origin of the pieces and the material, or they've been going through different countries to eventually get the parts to Iran," said RCMP spokeswoman Camille Habel.

An RCMP investigation began years ago, after the Canada Border Services Agency made a seizure in 2010.

RCMP believes that Allen and Dreckmann illegally exported nearly $10 million worth of railway parts, from bolts to locomotive engines, between 2007 and 2012.